WHY ARE YOU MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AN OVER AGAIN?

Is it true? “If I forget my past, I am sure to repeat it.” Perhaps you can answer that yourself. Look at your past and look at your present. How often have you done the same thing and got the same results? The truth is you can end this vicious cycle! How? The answer is found in the Psalms.

We are journeying through the Book of Psalms.

Although written in the style of prayers, poetry, and songs, the Psalms teach us vital lessons that can keep us from making the same crucial mistakes. So, as we journey through the Psalms, may they guide you down the right path and help you make the right decisions. But, before we begin, as always, let’s invite God’s presence.

Father, teach us your ways and guide us in the right direction so that we may learn from our mistakes and not repeat the same mistake again. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 1

“We have heard the story, and we know it well. Our fathers told it to us. And we will not forget it. Our people will be telling this story to the last generation. We will all praise the Lord and tell about the amazing things he did” (Psalm 78:3, 4, ERV). (Split)

A diligent study of the history of the children of Israel found in the Old Testament can help us learn the lessons we need to keep us from making the same mistakes and getting into the same messes they did.

As we have discovered, the book of Psalms is filled with songs, praise, and prayers.  Many of the Psalms take the form of a narrative that talks about God’s mighty acts to save us humans. These stories of the mighty acts of God are often referred to as salvation history psalms or historical psalms. The historical Psalms are narratives of Israel’s history. Some of these historical psalms, also called historical poems, are admonitions and warnings telling Israel’s descendants to learn from the mistakes of their ancestors.

Some of these historical poems are written as hymns or songs. These hymns talk about the wonderful things God did for His people to strengthen their faith and trust in him.

They were designed to remind them that He can deliver them from their present circumstance or hardship.

Not only were these historical psalms intended for ancient Israel, but these psalms are designed to help us see our spiritual connection to ancient Israel and its history.

In fact, as members of God’s family through the blood of Jesus Christ, when we accept Jesus as our savior, we become seeds of Abraham and share in Israel’s history.  

In other words, Israel’s history, as written in the Bible, becomes our history. Because we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus, we become members of the family of ancient Israel. 

This is confirmed in the following Bible text:

Romans 8:15

15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

Romans 9:24-26

24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”

 26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” (Romans 9:24-26)

Galatians 4:6-7

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:6-7)

Galatians 3:29

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

More important than being an actual descendent of Abraham is our adoption into the family of God through the blood of Jesus.

For without the blood of Jesus, no one can be a member of the family of God.

See John 8:33-47 in which some of those who were descendants of Abraham attempted to question Jesus’s ancestry.

Thus, to be indeed a member of the family of God, we acknowledge Christ as the Son and accept him as our Lord and Savior.

When we do this, we become members of the family of God and a part of the Israelites’ history as written in the Bible.

In other words, the ancient people of Israel become our spiritual ancestry. Therefore, to avoid their mistakes, we must learn from their past, which is also our past. We must study their history.

The critical point here is that as God’s people, we have a part to play in the unfolding of the great controversy, which is the cosmic battle between good and evil, just as our ancestors of ancient Israel did.

The Book This Day with God further clarifies why it is important for us to know the history of Israel. Simply put, it says: A study of the history of the children of Israel will help us to learn lessons that will keep us from repeating the mistakes that spoiled their records.

Their mistakes included idolatry, fornication, tempting the Lord, complaining, and periods of separation from God. Of course, we do not want to make these same mistakes, so how do we avoid repeating them? 

Pause and read Psalm 78. What historical events are highlighted here that you might want to avoid? Share them in the comment section.

Then, View the next segment of this video: Day 2: The Lord’s Unstoppable Faithfulness.

Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 2: The Lord’s Unstoppable Faithfulness

In Psalm 78, Asaph, singer and songwriter, reviews Israel’s past. The review of Israel’s past reveals that God always keeps His promises. It is also a reminder to the coming generations not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors.

But did reviewing Israel’s past keep their descendants from repeating the mistakes of their parents? No!

Though they should have learned from the mistakes of their past, they kept making the same mistakes as their parents.

It was the responsibility of the parents to teach their children to trust God and depend upon him to lead them.

Thus, Asaph expresses in Psalm 78:2 that he will speak the dark sayings of old using a parable.

In fact, Asaph’s statement about using parables is a prophetic description of Jesus’ method of teaching. 

Matthew 13:34, 35 points back to Asaph’s prophetic statement, foretelling of Jesus using parables to teach His followers a spiritual lesson.

Matthew 13:34, 35 says:

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,

35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34, 35)

Parables are simple stories or illustrations designed to teach spiritual or moral lessons. So, Asaph’s aim in writing Psalm 78 was to teach the Israelites some critical spiritual lessons.

Therefore, Asaph in Psalm 78:9-54 talks about the time of the Exodus. The Exodus was the time when God delivered His people from Egyptians Slavery.

In Psalm 78:55-64 he talks about the time when God led His people to settle in Canaan, the Promised Land.  

In Psalm 78:65-72 Asaph tells of David’s reign, showing how God responded to the needs of the people and gave them a King. He shows how God groomed a lowly shepherd boy from the tribe of Judah and made him King of Israel.

Despite all the mighty acts that God did for His people, the Israelites broke their promise to God. Israel’s history shows us, time and time again, of Israel’s refusal to trust God.

They repeatedly broke their covenant with God and even went as far as worshipping false God, according to Psalm 78:58.

58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. (Psalms 78:58)

You see, Asaph wanted his people to understand the real reason why the Israelites were unfaithful to God.

According to Psalm 78:18, 41, 56

• They forgot everything God did for them.
• They were unfaithful.
• They fail to trust God.
• They even tested and provoked God.
• They rebelled against Him by refusing to obey Him.
• They did not live by his laws, covenants, or testimonies.

Asaph points out in Psalm 78:7, 8 that the core of their ancestor’s unfaithfulness stemmed from their failure to trust God. Thus, he warns his people to put their hope in God.

When we read Psalm 78, we may be disturbed by the acts of the people of Israel. We may even ask ourselves, “Why were they so stubborn? Why could they not see? Why did they not learn from their past mistakes?”

But, before we set as judge to the Israelites or the mistakes of others, we must take a hard look at ourselves. How often do we forget the wonderful things God did for us in the past? How often do we forget to do the things God asks us to do?

Psalm 78 teaches us that we must not trust in ourselves. We must trust in God and His mercy.

The point is, when Israel fought battles in their own strength, they utterly failed; see Psalm 78:9, 62-64.

From the Book This Day with God: The Word of God is to be our counsel and is to guide our experience. If faithfully studied, the lessons of Old Testament history will teach us…—This Day With God, p. 254.

The lesson here is that we must put our trust in God because human effort without Divine Power is a sure formula for failure. In other words, without God’s help, we are doomed to fail in everything we do.

Pause and Read: Psalm 105 observes how the events in this Psalm can keep us from making the same mistakes.

Then View the next segment of this video, Day 3: Remembering History and the Praise of God Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 3: Remembering History and the Praise of God

Psalm 105 rehearses key events that aided in God keeping his covenant, his promise that He had made with His people, the Israelites.

God made a covenant with Abraham. He promised to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan, a land at the time possessed by the Canaanites, who were descendants of Canaan, a son of Ham and grandson of Noah.

He confirmed this same promise with Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s name was later changed to Israel; thus, the descendants of Jacob were called Israelites.

The promise God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was fulfilled through Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and Joshua.

Therefore, as promised, God gave His people, the Israelites, the land of Canaan.

Psalm 105 gives hope, because it assures us just as God kept his promise to Abraham and his descendants, He will keep his promise in every generation.

God’s wonderful works in the past toward the Israelites help us to see that though we may change, God’s love never changes.

We can trust that God’s love for us is forever, and we can trust that God will always keep his promises.

Thus, as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 105:1-5, 7, 8, we can declare.

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.

3 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.

5 Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth,

7 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

8 He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations (Psalms 105:1-5,7-8)

Similar to Psalm 78, Psalm 105 highlights all the wonderful things God did in the past to help His people; they show historically how God has always been faithful to His people.

As expressed previously, God’s people today are those who accept His son Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are adopted into His family.

Thus, we become spiritual descendants of Abraham. So, Just as God was faithful to ancient Israel, He is faithful to His people today.

Different, however, from Psalm 79, the psalmist in Psalm 105, in an effort to Glorify God and inspire faithfulness, does not address the past mistakes of his people.

This is because Psalm 105 was written for a different purpose.

Psalms 105 seeks to highlight the lives of Israel’s greatest patriarchs, that is Israel’s greatest fathers.

It recounts Israel’s history in the lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and other early leaders showing their patient endurance in times of hardship.  

Regardless of how bad it got, these fathers persisted and remained loyal to God.  And God richly rewarded them for their loyalty.  

Therefore, Psalm 105 is an invitation for us to follow the example of our first fathers, the patriarchs of Israel. We are encouraged to fully trust in God and wait for His time of deliverance.

Demonstrating the value of knowing our history in praising God, Psalm 105:1-7 offers a hymn note, a song of praise. This shows that to really praise God, we need to know our history and how God has led us in the past.

History, the knowledge about our past, provides validation for our faith and gives us many reasons to praise God in the present.

In Psalm 105:6, the psalmist addressed the worshippers as seeds of Abraham and children of Jacob, His chosen ones. These names show that God made the promise he made to Abraham in Genesis 15:3-6 when he said to Abraham:

“Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:6) 

Therefore, the psalmist in Psalm 105 shows the link between the patriarchs and the successive generations of God’s people, stressing in Psalm 105:7 that: “He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.” (Psalm 105:7)

In other words, He reminds the people that the whole earth is under the control of the Lord their God, just as the psalmist expresses in Psalm 96:1 and Psalm 97:1.

The point is God’s love and kindness are not just limited to one group of people. Through the seed of Abraham, His love and kindness extend to all the earth.

God loves all humanity, just as he loved the Israelites. This is what John in John 3:16 meant when he says:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

God gave his son for all humanity. His death benefits everyone who believes in Him.

Thus, Psalm 105 is an invitation to everyone in every generation to trust in the Lord.

For as Paul expresses in Galatians 3:29:

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

So, we are descendants of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; therefore, in the spiritual sense, we are Israelites who are encouraged not to make the same mistakes as our fathers.

How do we avoid the mistakes they made?

Pause and Read Psalm 106, observe the historical events that took place, and ponder the lessons highlighted. Then continue to the next segment of this video, Part 4: Forever Faithful to His Covenant

Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 4: Remembering History and Repentance

Psalm 106 talks about some major events in Israel’s history. It addressed Israel’s Exodus when they were released from Egyptian slavery. It talks of Israel’s journey in the desert and Israel’s life living in the Promised Land.

It also addresses the awful sins of the fathers, which ended with the next generation being carried into exile by the Babylonians.

It is believed that the psalmist wrote Psalm 106 either when the Israelites were prisoners of war in Babylon or after they returned home.

Thus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the psalmist recounts the historical event as a reminder that they should take lessons from what had happened in the past to avoid the same mistakes in the future.

Psalms 106:45 is, therefore, a reminder because of His love and mercy, God keeps his promises and delivers His people. Psalms 106:45 says:

45 And for their sake He remembered His covenant And relented according to the multitude of His mercies. (Psalm 106:45).

Moreover, in Psalm 106:47, the psalmist displays hope, calling for God to again bless His repentant people. His hope is that God will gather all his people from among the nations and bring them back home again. He says:

47 Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise. (Psalms 106:47)

His prayer is a prayer of faith based on his trust that God will deliver them, just as he has done in the past.  His faith and trust in God are clearly expressed in the opening of Psalm 106 when says in verses 1-3

1 Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?

3 Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times! (Psalms 106:1-3)

Thus, Psalm 106 is another testament that we, like the psalmist, can trust God. For he is faithful, and He always keeps his promises.

The recalling of Israel’s historical failures in Psalm 106 shows that they confessed their sins and acknowledged that they were no better than their forefathers, who also went against God’s commands.

They admitted they were even worse than their forefathers because they knew the consequences of their forefather’s mistakes.

They knew God had allowed Babylon to take past generations of Israel into captivity because of their sins. They knew how God, in his great mercy, delivered them from captivity.  Yet, knowing all of this, they chose to walk in the way of the wicked. The people sinned anyway!

Nevertheless, God is very patient with His people. He showed them his loving mercy and delivered them.

However, the Israelites kept making the same mistakes generation after generation. With these mistakes, they found themselves in the same dire situation, with God having to rescue them. 

This should be a reminder to us of God’s steadfast love.  He loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to us to show us how much He loves us.

So, we have no excuse for forgetting God and failing to live our lives as he has instructed.

He has admonished us not to walk in the way of the wicked nor seek their counsel.

Nevertheless, Psalm 106 is good news. It shows that God’s love always prevails over those who repent of their sins.

In Psalm 106:8-10, 30, 43-46 the psalmist talks of God saving His people for His name’s sake.

Psalm 106:30 tells of Phinehas intervening to stop a plague that was killing his people. It says He “stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped.

This shows just what Jesus does for us when we pray and ask God to forgive us.

The point is made that “Only a personal experience of God’s grace can transform a past story into our story.”

The sad story is that Psalm 106:13 says: “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel.” I Pray that this not be your story. (Split)

Steps to Christ points out that:

Confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. In other words, there must be a decided change in life; everything offensive to God must be put away… Steps to Christ, p. 39

May our story be that of sincere confession and genuine repentance.

 

What happens when we repent? Pause and Read: Psalm 80. Then View the next segment of this video: Day 5: The Parable of the Lord’s Vine

Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 5: The Parable of the Lord’s Vine

The Jews had always regarded the vine as the most noble of plants and a type of all that was powerful, excellent, and fruitful. Israel had been represented as a vine that God had planted in the Promised Land. The Jews based their hope of salvation on the fact of their connection with Israel. But Jesus says I am the real Vine. (The Desire of Ages, p. 675)

In Psalm 80, the poet compares God’s people to a grape vineyard that He uprooted from Egypt, a land in which they were being oppressed, and transported them to Cannan, the Land of Promise.

This image of Israel as a vineyard shows God’s selection and care for Israel as his chosen people. Read Genesis 49:11, 12, 22, and Deuteronomy 7:7-11 to learn more about God’s vineyard.

 

Although God loves and cares for Israel, in Psalm 80, we find in Psalm 80:12 that God is angry with his grapevine. So the question is asked:

12 Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? (Psalm 80:12)

In fact, prophets, God’s special messengers, are sent to announce the coming destruction of the vineyard. This pronounced judgment is because the special vine of God has changed and become corrupt.

Read Isaiah 5:1-7 and Jeremiah 2:21 to find out how God provided tender care for this grapevine, yet when He looked to receive a stock of good fruit; it produced bad fruit.

Thus, understanding what had happened to Israel, the psalmist in Psalm 80, the psalmist does not think about why God must judge His people. But knowing the depth of God’s love and mercy, he does not understand how God could withdraw his presence from his people for such a long period of time.

He is having a hard time understanding why God is refusing to stop the pain his people are experiencing.

Fearing that God’s anger and punishment may supersede His grace and mercy, the psalmist is concerned that God’s divine anger will completely destroy Israel, just as the vine that he refers to in Psalm 80:16, saying:

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. (Psalm 80:16)

Psalm 80 brings to mind Aaron’s promise made to Israel in Numbers 6:22-27 that God will always bless His people.

Knowing that God always keeps His promises, this Psalm shows that the psalmist hopes is that God will show his mercy, extend his grace, and save His people from the suffering that they have brought upon themselves:

Thus he, in Psalm 80:3, cries out to God, saying:

3 Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! (Psalm 80:3).

He also makes this very same appeal in Psalm 80:7, 19.

The word “retore” is derived from a common word that means to “return.” In the Bible, we see that God uses it again and again, inviting His people, who have wandered away, to come back to Him.

This word is also closely related to the idea of confession and repentance. It is linked to us turning away from our sins and returning to God when we confess our sins.

In Jeremiah 24:7, The Lord explains to Jeremiah what happens when His people turn away from sin and come back to Him:

“ ‘ “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” ’ ” (Jeremiah 24:7).

How do you feel when you say yes to God and no to sin? It’s a sure means of keeping us from making the same mistakes over and over again. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Pause and read Psalm 135. Notice the historical events for Israel happening here. Then continue to the next segment of this video: Day 6: The Lord’s Supremacy in History

Psalms (Lesson 10)

Lessons of the Past

Day 6: The Lord’s Supremacy in History

From a race of slaves, the Israelites had been exalted above all peoples to be the peculiar treasure of the King of kings. God had separated them from the world, that He might commit to them a sacred trust. He had made them the depositaries of His law, and He purposed, through them, to preserve among men the knowledge of Himself. Thus, the light of heaven was to shine out to a world enshrouded in darkness, and a voice was to be heard appealing to all peoples to turn from their idolatry to serve the living God.

If the Israelites would be true to their trust, they would become a power in the world. God would be their defense, and He would exalt them above all other nations. (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 314)

Reminding the Israelites of God’s historical goodness and faithfulness toward them, the psalmist in Psalm 135:6, 7 points to God’s creation as a reason for his people to praise the Lord. 

In Psalm 135:8, 9 the psalmist is reminding Israel of their history of their past when God delivered their people from the Egyptian slaver as another reason for praising the Lord.

Giving them another reason for praising the Lord, in Psalm 135:10-12, he recounts how God has, through them, defeated many nations and gave them Canaan, the land He promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moreover, Psalm 135:4, the psalms, reminds them that the Lord showed His mercy and grace to them when He chose the people of Israel to be His “special treasure.” Their position as God’s  “special treasurer was to express that they had a distinctive covenantal relationship agreement with him.  You may read about this covenantal agreement in Deuteronomy 7:6-11. 

1 Peter 2:9, 10 tells us that for those who accept Jesus and are adopted sons and daughters into the family of God, this covenantal agreement is extended to them. Notice that this agreement was not unconditional. It was contingent on their obedience and faithfulness to God.

Another point the psalmist makes in Psalm 135:6 and 7 is that God did not choose Israel because of anything special in them. Therefore, they had no bragging rights. In fact, God’s divine plan for humanity was made before He created the world. Thus, it was Israel’s duty to humbly accept and aid in fulfilling God’s plan to save not just Israel but the entire world through the promised seed of Abraham.

So, Israel should have had no pride in their hearts about being God’s special people. It was Israel’s duty to work with God and do whatever He asked them to do to save others.

After recounting all the good things God has done on behalf of His people in Psalm 135:8-13, the psalmist in Psalms 135:14 reminds the people that God will judge His people. As judge however, different from earthly judges, they are assured that God will extend his hands of mercy.

This judgment is God’s promised vindication for the oppressed and the destitute.

Read the following: Psalm 9:4, Psalm 7:8, Psalm 54:1. See God’s standard for judging. It is based on how we have treated each other.

See Deuteronomy 32:36. God has a special concern for those who are oppressed, and he assures his people that they will be vindicated. Thus, Psalm 135 is a reminder that when we follow God’s lead, we can be sure that he will care for us and deliver us. There is no need for us to keep making the same old mistakes by taking matters into our own hands. As God’s people, we can trust that the Lord will keep His promises.

This is because the false god of this world (power, wealth, relationship, possessions are whatever is nothing compared to our Creator, the Supreme God of the entire universe. The psalmist in Psalm 135:15-18 reminds his people of this saying:

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.

16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;

17 They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them. (Psalm 135:15-18)

Thus, we can only agree with the Psalmist, who calls for us to Praise the Lord as both our Creator and Savior.

This same proclamation is in the fourth commandment found in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

No one on this earth is as powerful as God. He created this world. He controls both the earth and all that transpires in human history.

Therefore, to avoid making the same mistakes, we rely on his guidance, we acknowledge him in all our ways, living by his every word as written in the Bible.

Because Jesus is the One who made us and is the One who died to save us, He deserves our worship and our praise. Worshipping anyone or anything else other than God makes us guilty of bowing down to false gods. Bible history teaches us that those who practice relying on self or others who do not direct them to God are reaching for things that supersede God.  These things can only keep us in the vicious circle of making the same mistakes over and over again.

If you need direction on how to get out of your spiritual rut, you may message me via my Instagram or Facebook page.

Father, free us from our habits of sin. Give us the strength, power, tenacity, faith, and trust to depend totally on you. In Jesus Name, Amen (Split)

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